Standard Lemma guide

headache

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈhɛdeɪk/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛdeɪk
  • CMU ARPABET: HH EH1 D EY2 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A pain or ache in the head.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, sciences

Examples

  • I have a splitting headache after that party last night.
  • I advise you to take some painkillers for the headache, it's probably nothing serious.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A nuisance or unpleasant problem.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

Examples

  • The clumsy filing system has been a huge headache.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

something or someone that causes anxiety; a source of unhappiness

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • New York traffic is a constant concern
  • it's a major worry

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: concern, worry, vexation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: negative stimulus

Narrower terms: bugaboo, burden, load, encumbrance, incumbrance, onus, business

4

noun

Meaning 4

pain in the head caused by dilation of cerebral arteries or muscle contractions or a reaction to drugs

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: head ache, cephalalgia

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ache, aching

Narrower terms: histamine headache, cluster headache, migraine, megrim, sick headache, hemicrania, sinus headache, tension headache

History

Etymology

From Middle English hevedeche, from Old English hēafodeċe. By surface analysis, head + ache.

Across languages

Translations

181 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: hoofpyn — pain or ache in the head
  • Albanian: dhembje koke — pain or ache in the head
  • Southern Altai: баштыҥ оорузы (baštïŋ ooruzï) — pain or ache in the head
  • Arabic: صُدَاع (ṣudāʕ) — pain or ache in the head
  • Arabic: صداع (ṣudāʕ) — pain or ache in the head
  • Arabic: صُداع (ṣudāʕ) — pain or ache in the head
  • Armenian: գլխացավ (glxacʻav) — pain or ache in the head
  • Assamese: মূৰৰ বিষ (muror bix) — pain or ache in the head
  • Azerbaijani: baş ağrısı — pain or ache in the head
  • Bashkir: баш ауыртыу (baş awırtıw) — pain or ache in the head
  • Basque: buruko min — pain or ache in the head
  • Belarusian: галаўны́ боль (halawný bolʹ) — pain or ache in the head
  • Breton: poan-benn — pain or ache in the head
  • Bulgarian: главобо́лие (glavobólie) — pain or ache in the head
  • Burmese: ခေါင်းကိုက်ခြင်း (hkaung:kuikhkrang:) — pain or ache in the head
  • Catalan: mal de cap — pain or ache in the head
  • Cebuano: sakit sa ulo — pain or ache in the head
  • Chinese Cantonese: 頭痛 /头痛 — pain or ache in the head
  • Chinese Cantonese: 頭赤 /头赤 (tau4 cek3) — pain or ache in the head
  • Hakka Chinese: 頭那痛 /头那痛 (thèu-nà-thung) — pain or ache in the head
  • Chinese: 頭疼 /头疼 (zh-min-nan) — pain or ache in the head
  • Chinese: 頭殼疼 /头壳疼 (thâu-khak-thiàn) — pain or ache in the head
  • Chinese Mandarin: 頭疼 /头疼 (tóuténg) — pain or ache in the head
  • Chinese Mandarin: 頭痛 /头痛 (tóutòng) — pain or ache in the head
  • Czech: bolest hlavy — pain or ache in the head
  • Czech: cefalea — pain or ache in the head
  • Czech: cefalgie — pain or ache in the head
  • Danish: hovedpine — pain or ache in the head
  • Dutch: hoofdpijn — pain or ache in the head
  • Dutch: koppijn — pain or ache in the head
  • Elfdalian: sårskollan — pain or ache in the head
  • Erzya: прясэредькс (pŕasëreďks) — pain or ache in the head
  • Esperanto: kapdoloro — pain or ache in the head
  • Estonian: peavalu — pain or ache in the head
  • Faroese: høvuðpína — pain or ache in the head
  • Faroese: høvuðverkur — pain or ache in the head
  • Finnish: päänsärky — pain or ache in the head
  • French: mal de tête — pain or ache in the head
  • Galician: dor de cabeza — pain or ache in the head
  • Georgian: თავის ტკივილი (tavis ṭḳivili) — pain or ache in the head
  • German: Kopfschmerzen — pain or ache in the head
  • German: Kopfweh — pain or ache in the head
  • German: Kopfschmerz — pain or ache in the head
  • German: Chopfwee — pain or ache in the head
  • Greek: πονοκέφαλος (ponokéfalos) — pain or ache in the head
  • Greek: κεφαλαλγία (kefalalgía) — pain or ache in the head
  • Gujarati: માથાનો દુખાવો (māthāno dukhāvo) — pain or ache in the head
  • Hebrew: כאב ראש (ke'év rosh) — pain or ache in the head
  • Hindi: सिरदर्द (sirdard) — pain or ache in the head
  • Hindi: सरदर्द (sardard) — pain or ache in the head
  • Hungarian: fejfájás — pain or ache in the head
  • Icelandic: höfuðverkur — pain or ache in the head
  • Icelandic: hausverkur — pain or ache in the head
  • Ido: kapodoloro — pain or ache in the head
  • Ilocano: sakit ti ulo — pain or ache in the head
  • Indonesian: pusing — pain or ache in the head
  • Indonesian: sakit kepala — pain or ache in the head
  • Interlingua: mal de testa — pain or ache in the head
  • Interlingua: mal de capite — pain or ache in the head
  • Irish: tinneas cinn — pain or ache in the head
  • Italian: mal di testa — pain or ache in the head
  • Japanese: 頭痛 (zutsū) — pain or ache in the head
  • Kapampangan: sakit buntuk — pain or ache in the head
  • S'gaw Karen: ခိၣ်ဆါ (khoh̀ hsah) — pain or ache in the head
  • Kazakh: бас ауруы (bas auruy) — pain or ache in the head
  • Khmer: ឈឺក្បាល (chɨɨ kbaal) — pain or ache in the head
  • Korean: 두통 (dutong) — pain or ache in the head
  • Central Kurdish: سەرێشە (serêşe) — pain or ache in the head
  • Northern Kurdish: serêşî — pain or ache in the head
  • Kyrgyz: баш оору (baş ooru) — pain or ache in the head
  • Latin: capitis dolor — pain or ache in the head
  • Latin: dolor capitis — pain or ache in the head
  • Latin: cephalalgia — pain or ache in the head
  • Latin: cephalargia — pain or ache in the head
  • Latvian: galvassāpes — pain or ache in the head
  • Lithuanian: galvos skausmas — pain or ache in the head
  • Luxembourgish: Kappwéi — pain or ache in the head
  • Macedonian: главоболка (glavobolka) — pain or ache in the head
  • Malagasy: aretin'andoha — pain or ache in the head
  • Malay: sakit kepala — pain or ache in the head
  • Malayalam: തലവേദന (talavēdana) — pain or ache in the head
  • Maltese: uġigħ ta’ ras — pain or ache in the head
  • Manx: kione-ching — pain or ache in the head
  • Māori: mōngurunguru — pain or ache in the head
  • Māori: ngāhoahoa — pain or ache in the head
  • Māori: pāhoahoa — pain or ache in the head
  • Māori: kotiuru — pain or ache in the head
  • Marathi: डोकेदुखी (ḍokedukhī) — pain or ache in the head
  • Mongolian: толгойн өвчин (tolgojn övčin) — pain or ache in the head
  • Nepali: टाउको दुखाइ (ṭāuko dukhāi) — pain or ache in the head
  • Norman: ma d'tête — pain or ache in the head
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hodepine — pain or ache in the head
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: hovudverk — pain or ache in the head
  • Occitan: mal de cap — pain or ache in the head
  • Okinawan: 頭病ん (chiburuyan) — pain or ache in the head
  • Old English: hēafodeċe — pain or ache in the head
  • Oromo: mataa bowwuu — pain or ache in the head
  • Ossetian: сӕрниз (særniz) — pain or ache in the head
  • Palauan: bingsbedul — pain or ache in the head
  • Iranian Persian: سَرْدَرْد (sardard) — pain or ache in the head
  • Polish: ból głowy — pain or ache in the head
  • Portuguese: dor de cabeça — pain or ache in the head
  • Portuguese: enxaqueca — pain or ache in the head
  • Quechua: uma nanay — pain or ache in the head
  • Romanian: durere de cap — pain or ache in the head
  • Russian: головна́я боль (golovnája bolʹ) — pain or ache in the head
  • Santali: ᱵᱚᱦᱚᱜ ᱦᱟᱹᱥᱩ (bôhôk’ hăsu) — pain or ache in the head
  • Serbo-Croatian: главо̀боља — pain or ache in the head
  • Serbo-Croatian: glavòbolja — pain or ache in the head
  • Sicilian: mali di testa — pain or ache in the head
  • Sicilian: mal' 'i testa — pain or ache in the head
  • Sinhalese: හිසරදය (hisaradaya) — pain or ache in the head
  • Slovak: bolesť hlavy — pain or ache in the head
  • Slovene: glavobol — pain or ache in the head
  • Spanish: dolor de cabeza — pain or ache in the head
  • Spanish: cefalea — pain or ache in the head
  • Spanish: jaqueca — pain or ache in the head
  • Spanish: dolor capital — pain or ache in the head
  • Spanish: cefalalgia — pain or ache in the head
  • Spanish: neuralgia — pain or ache in the head
  • Swahili: maumivu ya kichwa — pain or ache in the head
  • Swedish: huvudvärk — pain or ache in the head
  • Tagalog: sakit ng ulo — pain or ache in the head
  • Tahitian: hoa — pain or ache in the head
  • Tamil: தலைவலி (talaivali) — pain or ache in the head
  • Tatar: баш авырту (baş awırtu) — pain or ache in the head
  • Telugu: తలనొప్పి (talanoppi) — pain or ache in the head
  • Thai: ปวดหัว (bpùuat-hǔua) — pain or ache in the head
  • Turkish: baş ağrısı — pain or ache in the head
  • Ottoman Turkish: باش آغریسی (baş ağrısı) — pain or ache in the head
  • Ottoman Turkish: بیضه (beyza) — pain or ache in the head
  • Ukrainian: головни́й біль (holovnýj bilʹ) — pain or ache in the head
  • Urdu: سَر دَرْد (sar dard) — pain or ache in the head
  • Urdu: سِر دَرْد (sir dard) — pain or ache in the head
  • Uyghur: باش ئاغرىقى (bash aghriqi) — pain or ache in the head
  • Uzbek: bosh ogʻrigʻi — pain or ache in the head
  • Vietnamese: chứng nhức đầu — pain or ache in the head
  • Volapük: kapadol — pain or ache in the head
  • Welsh: cur pen — pain or ache in the head
  • Welsh: pen tost — pain or ache in the head
  • Woiwurrung: lalenin gawang — pain or ache in the head
  • Yakut: төбө ыарыыта (töbö ïarïïta) — pain or ache in the head
  • Yiddish: קאָפּווייטיק (kopveytik) — pain or ache in the head
  • Yucatec Maya: k'iinam — pain or ache in the head
  • Zulu: ikhanda — pain or ache in the head
  • Zulu: ubuhlungu bekhanda — pain or ache in the head
  • Albanian: kokëçarje — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Armenian: գլխացավանք (glxacʻavankʻ) — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Bashkir: мәшәҡәт (məşəqət) — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Bulgarian: неприя́тност (neprijátnost) — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Catalan: maldecap — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Chinese Mandarin: 頭疼 /头疼 (tóuténg) — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Danish: hovedpine — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Dutch: hoofdbreker — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Dutch: kopzorg — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Finnish: päänsärky — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Finnish: päänvaiva — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • French: casse-tête — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • German: Kopfschmerzen — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Greek: πονοκέφαλος (ponokéfalos) — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Greek: μπελάς (belás) — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Greek: βάσανο (vásano) — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Hungarian: fejfájás — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Hungarian: gond — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Hungarian: bosszúság — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Hungarian: nyűg — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Icelandic: höfuðverkur — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Marathi: डोकेदुखी (ḍokedukhī) — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Polish: ból głowy — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Portuguese: dor de cabeça — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Portuguese: problemão — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Romanian: bătaie de cap — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Romanian: pacoste — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Russian: головна́я боль (golovnája bolʹ) — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Russian: неприя́тность (neprijátnostʹ) — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Spanish: dolor de cabeza — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Spanish: quebradero de cabeza — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Spanish: quebradero capital — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Swedish: huvudvärk — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Tagalog: sakit ng ulo — nuisance or unpleasant problem
  • Tamil: தலைவலி (talaivali) — nuisance or unpleasant problem
Real reading context

headache in complete knowledge articles